Let's Play The Spirit Engine 2
<< | ^^ | >>
Chapter 7: Back to Nature
Part 1: The Tameless Traverse
We'll have to be quick. The serum will be wearing off soon. There isn't time for subtlety.
You'll extract no useful information by force, brother. Hello? PyanPau? Can you hear me?
I-I feel funny. What's going on? Where am I? Where's Ionae? Where's Denever?
Your companions are being held elsewhere. Their wellbeing depends upon your cooperation.
I s-see. My head hurts. T'room won't stop spinning. Where have you put my hands? I can't find them.
You're experiencing the effects of a mild serum that will help you talk to us. Please remain calm. We need you to answer some questions. We need you to tell us about the girl.
'The' girl? My fancy dressed friends, you'll have to be a little more specific than that. I have met a great many people on my Journey why might fit that vague description. None of them were deserving of your rather rude attention.
Come now, you know full well who we're looking for. We need the truth from you.
The truth? The truth is a journey, not a destination. If you rush to meet it, you will never arrive. It cannot be explained, it must be experienced. You cannot know it unless you are at pleace, and you, unfortunately, seem far too agitated.
And growing more so by the second. Don't play the fool with us, Sakeidan! We're looking for the little girl whom you and your associates saved from our purge in Bluefeather Forest. It is very important that you tell us where she is. Now!
Oh, you mean Isabelle? I don't know. I've never met her. I don't nkow who you're talking about. You're being really rather rude about this. Why don't you untie me and we can talk about this over lunch like nice, civilized people.
We don't have time for this idiocy, brother! I shall go and fetch The Toolset. We'll see how enthusiastic he is to play the fool when his every witticism loses him a finger.
Listen to me, PyanPau, I'm your friend here. I only want to help you. We can still resolve this in a peaceful manner, where nobody gets hurt. But you have to talk to us.
I have nothing to say to you. Grandfather says that he doesn't like the look of you, and I tend to agree.
I tried, PyanPau. What happens from here on is entirely your fault...
Norman? What's...
PyanPau! Are you alright?! Come on, you dopey idiot, say something!
I will survive, but not without loss. I think I may have had a profound thought, but then I forgot it, and now I'm sad. Maybe grandfather remembered...
Okay... Denever, what's wrong with him? Aside from the usual.
Pelladoctat, I suspect. A nasty herbal concoction used to loosen a person's tongue. We'll just have to wait for the effects to wear off. Come on, let's get him up and outside into the fresh air.
I'm alright! I don't know what you're both making such a fuss about. I'm quite capable of walking on my own. Just give me some space.
Parliamentarian? What are you diong here? Speaking of here - where exactly are we?
You're in the Tameless Traverse, and you're lucky that we found you when we did. The Keepers are not known for the human treatment of their captives. Did they talk to you?
They tried, but they were very rude, and so I said "no". I must say, it's nice to see someone who isn't trying to kill us or torture us or cheat us. I was starting to worry that...
Ohhh, my head feels like it's trying to turn itself inside out. I think I'm going to be sick. I need to sit down.
Is your friend quite alright?
Normally yes, but he's a little under the weather at the moment. We're hoping that whatever the Keepers drugged him with wears off soon.
Very soon. He's embarrassing enough at the best of times.
I see. I hope that he has remained as tight-lipped as he believes he has. These villains are relentless in pursuit of their twisted agenda, and they will seize upon any advantage you might carelessly provie them.
Shara, is the building secure?
It is, my Prince. We've searched every last corner, and the only Keepers left are dead. Those that fled during the initial breach are long gone.
Wait, are you sure? There were two knocked down in the interrogation room.
I found them, and I can assure you that they're quite dead. As a veteran of Helleka, I am familiar enough with corpses, sir.
They're dead? Did I do something wrong? I tried not to hit them hard, but people break so easy. Oh no, I've done a bad thing again!
It wasn't your fault, Clay. Don't let it upset you. You did as well as you could, and we're all very proud of you.
Poor Clay. How ironic that an automaton should have so much heart. But there's no sense in attempting to sympathize with these fiends. They deserve as much compassion as they extend to those victims of their ritualistic murders.
We believe the target they're hunting here in the Traverse may be their last and most important. Legistlation has failed to stop them thus far, so we have tracked them out here to put a final end to their crimes against the people.
Now is the time for focused action. Lereftain is descending into a panicked madness. Parliament lies in chaos, and I can accomplish even less there now than I could when the Rakari reigned over it in peacetime.
God no, the war! We've heard nothing of it since we were captured. Just how long have we been in the Keepers' custody?
It's been six days since I saw you outside Porto Vale. I'm sad to say that matters have deteriorated rapidly since then. Every active division of the army has been pushed West, the reserves are being called up and a draft has begun in their wake.
There had been no news from the front before we set sail, but I expect serious engagement must have occurred by now. The whole of centrail Lereftain seems awash with refugees, a bedraggled tide of human detritus.
We must get back to mainland Lereftain immediately! There may be something we can still do to aid those in flight.
I understand your concern, and I can provide all three of you with passage back to the mainland. In the current climate of fear, my ship is the only civilian vessel whose crew are brave enough to cross the Istis Straits.
She isn't much to boast about. Amara has little wealth with which to service its representatives to the grand Lereftese Parliament. But she is fast and reliable, and with a favourable wind, she can make Cape Vale in a day.
However, we shan't be leaving until our mission here is complete. We may be unable to help Lereftain much as we are, but I will be damned if I let us fail in our duty to put an end to this murderous rampage wtihin our borders...
You three have done us a great service already, more than I can ever repay you for. But I must ask for your help in saving this last young victim from their clutches. When we are done, we will set sail, I promise you.
If that is your intention, then you shall have our help, Parliamentarian. How could we refuse? We need no other incentive to engage in a mission of mercy.
You, maybe. The rest of us have bills to pay and food to buy if there's much left on the mainland by the time we get back to it. We have got to stop you from doing the negotiating, Denever.
Oh, don't be so disagreeable, Ionae. Of course we'll do it, Mr. Batiste. The sooner we stop the Keepers, the sooner we can get off this island. Just tell us what your plans are.
Excellent! I'm glad to have you on board. Allow me to introduce you to my learned mentor and loyal assistant since childhood, Mr. Julius Folkes. He can bring you up to date on the situation.
Indeed I can. We stand on the edge of the Tameless Traverse, a vast and tangled wilderness rising above the mists of the Istis, just north of Lereftain.
Generations of explorers have lost themselves in the jungle here. The Keepers' latest target is trying to do the same as we speak.
Forewarned, she fled from the mainland and sought refuge here within the Enclave. We had been following hot on their trail when we assaulted the Keepers' compound and found you three.
'The Enclave'?
A rather mysterious group of exiles and hermits who chose long ago to abandon life on the mainland and make their home here, in the Traverse. They live almost exclusively off of the land, and have very little contact with the citizens of Huntingden.
Which makes it all the more surprising that they should choose to take in the young lady. Very surprising indeed. I wonder just how much they know.
Legend has it that their forefathers made a pact with the forces of nature here, to live in harmony and protect one another. Superstitious nonsense, of course, but not entirely baseless.
The Traverse does not welcome hunters or prospectors. They have to fight just to keep this one outpost from being overgrown and overrun. Half a furlong from the walls, you'll find yourself in untamed jungle, where no man is safe.
Many who have dared to travel deeper into the Traverse have returned weeks later, dehydrated and near mad, considering themselves lucky to have ever found their way out and vowing never to return.
The army came here once, and traied to claim a section of the jungle with typical Lereftese pomposity. Their grand expedition lasted all of a month before being driven back by torrential rain, fearsome wildlife and rampant disease.
Even the least superstitious huntsmen treat the jungle as a living, breathing force. The southern Traverse is a maze where compasses and maps are of little use. The Keepers are well aware of this.
They have spent some time making their preparations to breack the Enclave's sanctum. After interrogating one of the Keepers we captured, we believe they've found a way in.
And you think they're capable of this, even now?
We can't take any chances. There are a few souls here who claim to trade with members of the Enclave. Some are madmen, others are fools, but some, we believe having spoken with them, are telling the truth.
The one reference which comes up repeatedly is that of an old witch who lives in the far south-east of this corner of the isle. She's a renegade even amongst these outsiders, a bitter fatalist who claims to be able to divine future events.
She trades occasionally, and may have a grudge against the Enclave which would lead her to help us. Or worse, to help the Keepers.
Apparently the Enclave's attempt to sever themselves from the otuside world was not so complete as they might have hoped. Curiosity remains one of their vices. Perhaps that is why they have expelled her.
They are a strange people, indeed. Such a total retreat from the many injustices of our troubled world is a cowardice I could not bear.
So we're expected to find this witch? Why are her kinsmen getting involved in this matter if they value their isolation so highly? And why are the Keepers trying to kill these people, anyway?
Good questions. We wish we knew the answers ourselves. They are rogue agents in an insidious conspiracy by the forces that govern us. We should not seek to understand their treachery. All that matters is that they must be stopped.
Our strike upon them came just in time. Though we've slain most of their number, a few escaped to the jungle where they remain dangerous. Time is short, and we must act quickly to save this young woman from their clutches.
We've seen first hand just what the Keepers are capable of, and we've seen them do it with the complete ignorance of the authorities. You have our help.
Good. From the few who've found it, we hear that the entrance to the Enclave lays across the Maw, a deep, impassable ravine in the southern jungle. Find the old witch, speak to her, and find ou how to cross it.
We shall set out on a different path with the same goal. Hopefully at least one of us will make it through the jungle before the Keepers do.
Remember that the traverse does not welcome interlopers. We will have a hard fight on our hands.
Thank you, all of you. We will need your help to end this betrayal of the people. There is so much at stake here today, but fate is behind us. We shall meet again when we are successful, I am sure of it. Good luck!
Next time: Flora!
<< | ^^ | >>